Is it Dead, or is it Mary Woods?

Rose Mary Woods, the devoted and allegedly fumble-fingered secretary to President Richard M. Nixon who accidentally deleted 18½ minutes of a crucial White House tape were erased, at the age of 87. Just before the missing segment, Nixon had been telling aide H.R. Haldeman to divert attention from the break-in at the Watergate. The convenient erasure did nothing to prop up Nixon’s flagging credibility with Washington and the nation, and when it came time to resign, Mr. Warmth asked Woods to tell his wife that he had decided to give up the Presidency. Following his resignation, Nixon and Woods toured the nation on a promotional tour for Dictaphone.

Watergate over the bridge

Frederick LaRue, who spread money among the “plumbers” from the Watergate break-in, has died at the age of 75. LaRue was a friend of President Nixon’s attorney general, and was convicted in 1973 for obstruction of justice for his role as the bagman. LaRue is one of those suspected of being Deep Throat, but thus far Robert Woodward and Carl Bernstein, who have pledged to reveal the name of Deep Throat after his death, have thus far not commented.

Saturday Night Massacre

Or

Watergate Down
Saturday witnessed the death of two central figures in the Watergate aftermath. Archibald Cox, who had been appointed as the lead special prosecutor of the Republican break-in at the Watergate Hotel, and did his job just a little too well, died at the age of 92. Cox had demanded tape recordings made at the White House, and President Nixon had demanded he give up his demands. Cox didn’t, so Nixon ordered him fired. The Attorney General and Deputy Attorney General both resigned rather than comply, but Solicitor Robert Bork kicked him to the curb. The departures were dubbed the Saturday Night Massacre, and the public outcry contributed to Nixon’s eventual resignation. Also deleted from the eternal transcript was Sam Dash, the chief counsel of the Senate Select Committee on Watergate, best known for his televised interrogations into the secret White House recording system.